Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and Thailand
CONTENTS
ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................................................. 4
INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY......................................................................................................... 5
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ......................................................................................................................... 7
INFLUX OF REFUGEES FROM ARAKAN/NRS TO BANGLADESH (UP TO 1992) ................................................................................... 7
MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS IN THE SITUATION FOR THE ROHINGYA IN BANGLADESH SINCE 1992............................................................. 8
CURRENT SITUATION IN NORTH RAKHINE STATE IN BURMA ......................................................................................................... 9
I. DISTINCTIVE CULTURAL FEATURES OF THE ROHINGYA ................................................................... 10
I.1. LANGUAGE ISSUES ....................................................................................................................................................... 10
I.2 CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS PRACTICES ............................................................................................................................... 12
I.3 ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SITUATION, INCLUDING ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT AND MOBILITY............................................................ 13
I.3.1 Child labour ..................................................................................................................................................... 16
I.4 FAMILY ORGANIZATION AND SOCIAL RELATIONS BETWEEN THE ROHINGYA REFUGEES ................................................................. 17
I.5. MIXED MARRIAGES BETWEEN ROHINGYA AND BANGLADESHIS ............................................................................................. 18
I.6 EXISTENCE OF LOCAL AND/OR INTERNATIONAL NETWORKS.................................................................................................... 19
II. SITUATION FOR ROHINGYA REGISTERED IN REFUGEE CAMPS IN BANGLADESH ....................... 20
II.1 ORGANISATION OF THE CAMPS....................................................................................................................................... 21
II.2. RELATION BETWEEN CAMP REFUGEES AND ROHINGYA LIVING OUTSIDE THE CAMPS .................................................................. 22
II.3. POSSESSION OF ID DOCUMENTS FROM BURMA ................................................................................................................ 22
II.4. ID DOCUMENTS FOR CAMP RESIDENTS ............................................................................................................................ 22
II.4.1 1991-1992 ‘The Pink Form’............................................................................................................................. 22
II.4.2 1992 Family Book (FB) .................................................................................................................................... 22
II.4.3 2007 Non Food Item (NFI) distribution sheet, Yellow Sheet ........................................................................... 24
II.4.4 2007 Medical Data Sheet ............................................................................................................................... 24
II.4.5 2008 Refugee ID Cards ................................................................................................................................... 24
II.4.7 UNHCR Updating of registers ......................................................................................................................... 25
II.5. PROCEDURE FOR VERIFYING REGISTRATION IN THE CAMPS .................................................................................................. 25
II.6 RESETTLEMENT OF REFUGEES FROM BANGLADESH............................................................................................................. 26
III. SITUATION FOR UNREGISTERED/ ILLEGAL ROHINGYA IN BANGLADESH ..................................... 26
III.1 UNREGISTERED ROHINGYA OUTSIDE THE CAMPS ............................................................................................................... 26
III.2. SITUATION IN THE MAKESHIFT CAMPS ............................................................................................................................ 29
III.3. ATTITUDE OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES TOWARDS THE UNREGISTERED ROHINGYA GROUP ............................................................... 31
III.3.1 Push backs/deportations ............................................................................................................................... 34
III.4 POSSIBILITY TO CROSS THE BORDER BETWEEN BANGLADESH AND BURMA .............................................................................. 35
III.5 ROHINGYA’S POSSIBILITY TO GO TO THEIR PLACE OF ORIGIN IN BURMA AND COME BACK TO BANGLADESH.................................... 37
III.6 POSSIBILITY TO CROSS THE BORDER AND COME BACK IN ONE DAY ......................................................................................... 37
IV. ID DOCUMENTS........................................................................................................................................ 38
IV.1 BURMESE ROHINGYA’S ID DOCUMENTS.......................................................................................................................... 38
IV.1.1 NRC/TRC ........................................................................................................................................................ 38
IV.1.2 Birth certificates ............................................................................................................................................ 38
IV.1.3 Other documents........................................................................................................................................... 38
IV. 2 ROHINGYA’S POSSIBILITY TO OBTAIN BANGLADESHI ID DOCUMENTS AND PASSPORTS .............................................................. 39
IV.3 LOCAL BANGLADESHI PEOPLE’S POSSIBILITY TO OBTAIN ROHINGYA DOCUMENTS ..................................................................... 41
IV.4 REGISTRATION AND CHANGES IN FAMILY BOOKS ............................................................................................................... 42
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